A Giant Postcard Addressed To The PM Has Appeared On A Beach In Skegness

1 year ago

Dear Rishi...

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A Giant Postcard Addressed To The PM Has Appeared On A Beach In Skegness

How do you get the Prime Minister’s attention? Send him a postcard, of course. Rights and climate collective Rights Community Action did one better earlier this week with a giant postcard drawn into the sand of a beach in Skegness, calling on Rishi Sunak to do more in the fight against climate change.

Climate Protestors Send A Sandy ‘Postcard’ To The PM

Taking to a strip of beach just north of Skegness Pier, Rights Community Action (RCA) teamed up with arts organisation Sand in Your Eye to write a pressing message to the UK Prime Minister: ‘Don’t let us drown.’

Part of RCA’s ongoing #WeAreHere campaign, which advocates for fairer planning systems that prioritise local communities, the sand drawing urges amendments to the recent Levelling Up and Regeneration bill so that local areas can protect themselves from climate impacts.

Earlier this week, the UK government released its latest proposals for tackling climate change. The five-year plan has since been criticised by climate experts for being ‘disappointing’ and ‘very weak’, with a lack of new funding or legislation to address issues like increased flooding.

Climate amendments 283 (laid by Baroness Hayman of Ullock) and 191 (laid by Lord Ravensdale, Baroness Hayman of Ullock and Lord Landsley) are some of the few that address local and central governments’ duties regarding mitigation of and adaptation to climate change, which could help communities like Skegness become better equipped to respond to the impacts of climate change. Both amendments are currently in report stage in the Lords.

Considered one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change in the UK, it was revealed last year that 95 percent of properties in Lincolnshire were prone to flooding. A new flood map commissioned by the #WeAreHere campaign also shows that Skegness sits in flood zones two and three, the highest risk zones.

The postcard, which measures 60 by 40 metres, reads: ‘Dear Rishi, Don’t let us drown. Love, Skegness xx’ Other additions to the drawing from community members included ‘Stop single use plastic’, ‘Stop Oil’, ‘Help’, ‘Save us’ and ‘Carbon Tax’, expanding the artwork to 150 by 70 metres of beach. Those who attended the demonstration included Lincolnshire Climate Conscious Students, members of local Extinction Rebellion, and the Mayor of Skegness, as well as people enjoying the beach.

‘No one’s paying attention to communities like Skegness – the Government certainly isn’t,’ said Naomi Luhde-Thompson, director of Rights Community Action. ‘These are places on the edge, living with the impacts of the climate crisis, that is here and happening now.

‘The people of Skegness have been adding their contributions to this postcard to Rishi. They’ve been ignored long enough. The Government has to change the law on climate change and planning, so these communities can be saved.’